I finally decided that I'm going to treat myself with my first "good" bike, and after many considerations I narrowed it down to two models: Grail CF 7 (2by) or the Grail CF 8 (1by). The last thing I need to figure out here is the drivetrain, and would appreciate some support 🙂
Context:
- I ride my bike for feeling and fun, not for speed, and I won't micro-analyze my performance.
- I haven't ridden a 1by enough to know what I would get myself into regarding gear ratio gaps.
My use scenario:
- Commuting in good weather (15 km on very flat terrain, parking is no problem since I have private parking both at home and at the office, and for bad weather I have another bike to keep maintenance of the good bike to a sane level)
- 2-3 day trips a month (mountains, hills, medium gravel, 40% group, 60% alone)
- Around 2 week-long bike-packing trips a year (mountains, mixed terrain, mostly group rides)
My question:
My last driver to inform my decision is the gear-ratio gaps at high speeds (the red-highlighted area) and this is the specificity of my question to you. Do you think that with the 1by I would miss the granularity of gear ratios provided by the 2by in these zones?
My assumption is that probably when going around with 2by/road riders, yes, I might struggle slightly more to find my cadence/max speed, but how big do you think this difference would be?
Whereas when alone, bike-packing, having fun, commuting, adventure riding, looking at my bike, my assumption is that I will just be so happy with my 1by and have so much fun with it.
P.S. If it can better inform your answers when thinking about cadence and power: I'm 1.90m, 88kg, medium-high fitness level.
P.S.2 since I mentioned bike-packing, and the grail is more "performance gravel". I tried it from friends together with more travel-friendly gravels, and I just love the nimbleness, speed and fun feeling that the grail's geometry gives me. I will go through the hassle of attaching bags and stuff on it, it's a trade off I'm willing to make.
by Neveperenne
8 Comments
Always 1x
You want to ride in the mountains, on hilly terrain, medium gravel, go bikepacking, and so on – in those conditions, you won’t often be riding above that speed anyway.
And even if you do, you still have gears. Over time, you’ll also learn to vary your cadence, so it really doesn’t matter.
Don’t overthink it – you said yourself: “I won’t micro-analyze my performance.”
I love my 1x setup and wouldn’t go back to a front derailleur for gravel. It’s just less to think about, and there’s less that can break.
I’m just commenting to follow what people say. I’m also looking at bikes and deciding which one to get
Hi, grail 2by owner here! I can only compare it to my MTB with 1by 38-10/52 SRAM Eagle, and for me 2by is better and I would not go back to 1by. I’ve always struggled to find the right cadence on my MTB, and I would assume that this is only amplified if you are on the road in a group ride. The 2by gave me 0 issues (not a chain drop to date, in ~10k kms).
For what concerns bike packing, I think the Grail will do just fine
https://preview.redd.it/u5jnqd2xbvaf1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=eb1b9ea5a31d6595b79d69029cad6120a2600d46
Is it your only bike and it should double as a road bike? -> 2x
Ist it just for commuting, gravel etc. -> 1x
I have driven a 2x SRAM a while and I have analyzed my preferred combination (statistics in sram app) and after that I could see which 1by setup I need
I have the CF 8 1x Grail.
I ride roads a lot during the week and gravel/trails for fun in the weekends. Mostly flatland (FL), but I do get up into the mountains some as well. My previous bike was a 2x 12s with a compact cassette.
My experience so far has been that the sub 1:1 ratio is good on climbs The steps between the fast gears aren’t too noticeable, but they are there. You do more “leg work” (a little higher cadence or a little more power) than shifting sometimes, but I consider that a good thing.
I’ll add that I almost exclusively ride solo and have yet to do a group ride on the Grail. Judging by how my power numbers look, I expect there will be times that the group’s pace will have me doing leg work instead of my ideal cadence and power on just the right cog.
I also love the simplicity of the 1x setup and think the tradeoff is worth it. YMMV
2x all day every day